The USS Eisenhower, an American aircraft carrier that holds eight fighter bomber squadrons and 8,000 men, arrived at the Syrian coast yesterday in the midst of a heavy storm, indicating US preparation for a potential ground intervention.

While the Obama administration has not announced any sort of American-led military intervention in the war-torn country, the US is now ready to launch such action “within days…”

…If the US decides to intervene militarily in Syria, it now has at its disposal 10,000 fighting men, 17 warships, 70 fighter-bombers, 10 destroyers and frigates and a guided military cruises. Some of the vessels are also equipped with Aegis missile interceptors to shoot down any missiles Syria might have at hand…

In fact, we may be so close to another mid-eastern war that Syrian President Bashir Al-Assad is emphatically trying to find an exit:

In a regional tour conducted last week, Syrian Vice-Minister of the Exterior Faisal al-Miqdad delivered requests on behalf of al-Assad to Venezuelan, Cuban, and Ecuadorian authorities. The letters allegedly enquire into the possibility of asylum for al-Assad, his family, and a tightknit circle of advisors and collaborators.

Venezuelan authorities confirmed that President Hugo Chávez had received a letter from al-Assad before travelling to Cuba for continued cancer treatment.

And he’s not the only one trying to get out ahead of what is sure to be a massive bombardment should NATO forces decide to take preemptive action. With war raging between rebels and the Assad government, thousands of refugees have been getting out of harm’s way since November:

Thousands of Syrians fled their country on Friday in one of the biggest refugee exoduses of the 20-month civil war…

An estimated four million people will need humanitarian aid by early next year when the country is in the grip of winter.

War is coming.

The same “intelligence” used to persuade Americans to invade Iraq is being used once again to justify intervention in Syria.

Likewise, the media propaganda machine that warned Americans of the dangers of Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction is blaring the sirens again.

Not much has changed, except that this time those who were against Bush’s war in 2003 are fully in support now that a democrat President says it’s the truth.

a. There very existance constitutes an unacceptable threat? b. Or will they actually be used and thus have to be responded to? If so, it is clearly Assad who used them since the US or its allies would never use them in any kind of black flag operation. We are the good guys. And even though it has been reported that the rebels liberated a stash of WMD's recently it wouldn't fit with the official meme to accuse them.

3. Or, maybe we will go with that old chestnut, 'humanitarian reasons'.

Obammie's not about to get into a ground war in Syria. We might bomb the shit out of them if they do use chemicals. It's probably been a long time since we Didn't have a carrier group somewhere near the coast of Syria.

Poland and the other eastern European countries, who ran to NATO as fast as their legs could carry them, are not near the North Atlantic either. Nor is Turkey. Israel is closer to the North Atlantic than Turkey. You need to look at your atlas, crapper.

Bryant preferred night shifts, because that meant it was daytime in Afghanistan. In the spring, the landscape, with its snow-covered peaks and green valleys, reminded him of his native Montana. He saw people cultivating their fields, boys playing soccer and men hugging their wives and children.

When it got dark, Bryant switched to the infrared camera. Many Afghans sleep on the roof in the summer, because of the heat. "I saw them having sex with their wives. It's two infrared spots becoming one," he recalls.

He observed people for weeks, including Taliban fighters hiding weapons, and people who were on lists because the military, the intelligence agencies or local informants knew something about them.

"I got to know them. Until someone higher up in the chain of command gave me the order to shoot." He felt remorse because of the children, whose fathers he was taking away. "They were good daddies," he says.

In his free time, Bryant played video games or "World of Warcraft" on the Internet, or he went out drinking with the others. He can't watch TV anymore because it is neither challenging or stimulating enough for him. He's also having trouble sleeping these days.

'There Was No Time for Feelings'

Major Vanessa Meyer, whose real name is covered with black tape, is giving a presentation at the Holloman Air Force Base in . . .

From The Daily Sheeple in an article titled: 20 Outrageous Examples That Show How Political Correctness Is Taking Over America.

#2 The Obama administration has banned all U.S. government agencies from producing any training materials that link Islam with terrorism. In fact, the FBI has gone back and purged references to Islam and terrorism from hundreds of old documents.

#4 According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, it is illegal for employers to discriminate against criminals because it has a “disproportionate” impact on minorities.

#9 At one high school down in California, five students were sent home from school for wearing shirts that displayed the American flag on the Mexican holiday of Cinco de Mayo.

#10 Chris Matthews of MSNBC recently suggested that it is “racist” for conservatives to use the word “Chicago”.

#17 All over the country, the term “manhole” is being replaced with the terms “utility hole” or “maintenance hole”.

#18 In San Francisco, authorities have installed small plastic “privacy screens” on library computers so that perverts can continue to exercise their “right” to watch pornography at the library without children being exposed to it.

#19 You will never guess what is going on at one college up in Washington state…

A Washington college said their non-discrimination policy prevents them from stopping a transgender man from exposing himself to young girls inside a women’s locker room, according to a group of concerned parents.

The US government continues to rain drones down on the tribal belt of Pakistan. While the Washington narrative is that these drones are precision machines that only kill terrorists, this story is not true.

The drone program is classified, and so it cannot be publicly debated. It cannot even be acknowledged by President Obama and his cabinet members. Drones are operated by civilians and sometimes by contractors. That is, we are subcontracting assassination.

Americans who were upset that the president did not seek congressional authorization for the enforcement of the no-fly zone in Libya are apparently all right with his administration bombing Pakistan without explicit authorization (the 2001 one authorizes action against perpetrators of 9/11, not their children.). The Obama administration has declared that no judges or judicial process need be involved in just blowing away people, even American citizens.

Of the some 3000 persons killed by US drones, something like 600 have been innocent noncombatant bystanders, and of these 176 were children. In some instances the US drone operators have struck at a target, then waited for rescuers to come and struck again, which would be a war crime. Obviously, children may run in panic to the side of an injured parent, so they could get hit by the indiscriminate second strike.

We don’t know the exact circumstances of the children’s deaths because the US government won’t talk about them, indeed, denies it all.

Well, of course, YES. American children are a cut above, as are American citizens in general. Heck, the Feds can't even deploy the military in the US much less make use of Drones to kill the bad fellas. Heck, Americans get due process (unless wiretapped or flying on planes), others, naw, fuggedaboutit!

China's new leaders sent their strongest signal yet that their top economic priority is to remake the economy so it relies more on domestic demand and less on exports and investment in capital-intensive state-owned companies, even if that reduces short-term growth.

In a statement issued after the annual Central Economic Work Conference, a weekend meeting of senior officials to assess economic and international challenges, Beijing's leadership said it wanted to boost imports and speed the integration of rural migrants into cities as ways to boost domestic consumption, according to reports in China's state-owned news agency, Xinhua.

One measure of a society is how it treats those people "in the dawn of life, in the twilight of life and in the shadows of life" (Hubert Humphrey). My understanding is that HHH was referring to the handicapped with his "shadows of life" phraseology but one might assume that he would not have objected to including health care in that category. It is an arguable point.

My personal view is that the rate of child abuse is lower - much lower - in the developed world than in the Muslim countries where statistics are not available.

Secondly, sad as the death of a young life is, the problem (in the west) is with the elderly. End of life care and treatment is in the toilet in this country. And it is shameful.

I, on the contrary, would like to give Secretary Clinton the benefit of the doubt on this one. Though I have never participated in a cover-up involving the brutal murder and defilement of people under my direct employ, I can only imagine that if I had, and if I were being called on the carpet to answer questions about my role in events surrounding a seven-hour terrorist assault on my representatives in Libya, and the subsequent disinformation campaign being managed, in part, out of my office, I would be feeling sick to my stomach, too. I imagine I might even faint, as the day of reckoning approached......... here she is, being excused from the most important day of her tenure as Secretary of State, in effect by means of a note from President O-Mama saying "Hillary isn't feeling well today, and she won't be feeling well next week either."

Shatter-resistant glass, and a teacher with a taser could have made all the difference. Hell, just the glass, itself, would have probably given the Security guy all the time he needed (I'm assuming he had access to a weapon.)

What the Dr. Evil types think, and want you to think, is that the big current deficit is a sign that our fiscal position is completely unsustainable. Sometimes they argue that it means that a debt crisis is just around the corner, although they’ve been predicting that for years and it keeps not happening. (U.S. borrowing costs are near historic lows.) But more often they use the deficit to argue that we can’t afford to maintain programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. So it’s important to understand that this is completely wrong.

...

And you should recognize all the hyped-up talk about the deficit for what it is: yet another disingenuous attempt to scare and bully the body politic into abandoning programs that shield both poor and middle-class Americans from harm.

Although I have to admit the group of (about ten) venture capitalists who funded the digital electronics industry out of Silicon Valley seem like a slightly different breed. At a bare minimum, more dimensional than greed alone. Tom Perkins especially comes pretty damn close to "Renaissance Man." I recommend the documentary. The sole woman among the Jobs and Wozniacs struck me as being marginally closer to the monomaniacal psychopath - like a cat fixated on a bird.

(I especially appreciated the manner in which the money guys described the Big One that got away - they chuckled!! Not the Wall St profile.)

As the Arabic saying goes, “if someone wants to eat shit, get him a spoon”. All the evidence points to the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood would never have been able to stay in power without the continued support of the US and other European countries...

The West’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood (particularly in recent years) has shocked many middle and upper class Egyptians who see a contradiction in the West’s purported advocacy for democracy and human rights, and the Muslim Brotherhood’s borderline fascist religious rhetoric...

It goes without saying that the Muslim Brotherhood is a fascist organization that is able to govern the country and push forth its agenda in a way that Egypt’s traditional elite was unable to. The West sees fascism in Egypt as their only option, however in reality it is they who have made it so...

The West, and the US in particular, has already paid the price for its alliance with the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union, so when will it pay the price for propping up political Islam in the Arab world? I think not long, as the death of the American ambassador in Libya was just the first of many acts of retribution soon to be witnessed in the West...

Mr. FARID ZAHRAN asks some very good questions. Much like the ones asked here at the EB?

"Why does the West prop up the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in an attempt to ensure that Israel remains safe from Hamas’ rockets? Do they not know that Hamas represents the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine, and that they are one in the same?"

"...what the West does not understand is that religious fascist organizations feed off each other, and if allowed to propagate will eventually spawn an entity that will inevitably turn its aggression towards the West itself, labeling it the Great Satan and the source of all corruption in the world."-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Plenty of us understand this, unfortunately the Executive and the State Dept do not seem to.

Not much has changed, except that this time those who were against Bush’s war in 2003 are fully in support now that a democrat President says it’s the truth.

From wiki:

"Democrat Party" is a political epithet used in the United States for the Democratic Party.[1] The term has been used in negative or hostile fashion by conservative commentators and members of the Republican Party in party platforms, partisan speeches and press releases since 1940.[2]

Multiple reasons are suggested for the use of the term. A 1984 New York Times article suggested Republicans began to use the term when Democrats used their own party name to imply "they are the only true adherents of democracy."[3] Republicans "feared that 'Democratic' suggested Democrats [had] a monopoly on or are somehow the anointed custodians of the concept of democracy."[4] New Yorker commentator Hendrik Hertzberg wrote, "There’s no great mystery about the motives behind this deliberate misnaming. 'Democrat Party' is a slur, or intended to be—a handy way to express contempt. Aesthetic judgments are subjective, of course, but 'Democrat Party' is jarring verging on ugly. It fairly screams 'rat.'"...

I object to the term because serious discourse requires emotional restraint. Time and place for all of it. One thing I have learned from the internet and reading the blog sites is the level of raw hatred that separates the Party ideologues. They might "all be dicks" but they got very different bibles.

The word fascist is sometimes used to denigrate people, institutions, or groups that would not describe themselves as ideologically fascist, and that may not fall within the formal definition of the word. The Fascist party that developed in Italy in the 1920s rigidly enforced conservative values and behavior norms during the Mussolini regime. As a political epithet, fascist was subsequently used in an anti-authoritarian sense to emphasize the common ideology of governmental suppression of individual freedom. It has also been applied to a broad range of people and groups, including people of many religious faiths, particularly fundamentalist groups. The individual, institution, or group(s) called fascist often find the use of the term in this way to be highly offensive and inappropriate.

In this sense, the word fascist is intended to mean "oppressive", "intolerant", "chauvinist", "genocidal", "dictatorial", "racist", or "aggressive" – all concepts that are allegedly inspired by the ideology of actual fascism, and pervasive through fascist states. One might accuse an inconveniently placed police roadblock as being a "fascist tactic" for its perceived oppression or interloping, or an overly authoritarian teacher as being "a total fascist". Terms like Nazi and Hitlerite, are often used in similar contexts.

The phrase social fascists was used by communists against social democrats before 1933, and is still used in some communist circles to refer to modern social democracy movements. As early as 1944, the term had already become so widely and loosely employed that British essayist and novelist George Orwell was moved to write:

It would seem that, as used, the word ‘Fascism’ is almost entirely meaningless. In conversation, of course, it is used even more wildly than in print. I have heard it applied to farmers, shopkeepers, Social Credit, corporal punishment, fox hunting, bullfighting, the 1922 Committee, the 1941 Committee, Kipling, Gandhi, Chiang Kai-Shek, homosexuality, Priestley's broadcasts, Youth Hostels, astrology, women, dogs and I do not know what else.[1]

There are numerous definitions given for Fascism, as well as, many arguments about what it is or isn't. I like this definition:

Roger Griffin describes fascism as "a genus of political ideology whose mythic core in its various permutations is a palingenetic form of populist ultranationalism".[24] Griffin describes the ideology as having three core components: "(i) the rebirth myth, (ii) populist ultra-nationalism and (iii) the myth of decadence".[25] Fascism is "a genuinely revolutionary, trans-class form of anti-liberal, and in the last analysis, anti-conservative nationalism" built on a complex range of theoretical and cultural influences.

Haven't a clue as to what it means but I like it.

Do the various definitions make the term meaningless though? I don't think so. It all depends on the context.

For instance, even though I may not know some of the specifics, I think I have a pretty good idea of what "I had a fascist poodle once - thought he owned the house" means.

The same applies to the Zahran article.

Islamofascism is a neolism that offers an analogy between Islamism and Fascism. A number of people use the term to push that anology.

Christopher Hitchens argued that there are similarities between historical fascism and Islamofascism. He makes the following comparison:

“The most obvious points of comparison would be these: Both movements are based on a cult of murderous violence that exalts death and destruction and despises the life of the mind. ("Death to the intellect! Long live death!" as Gen. Francisco Franco's sidekick Gonzalo Queipo de Llano so pithily phrased it.) Both are hostile to modernity (except when it comes to the pursuit of weapons), and both are bitterly nostalgic for past empires and lost glories. Both are obsessed with real and imagined "humiliations" and thirsty for revenge. Both are chronically infected with the toxin of anti-Jewish paranoia (interestingly, also, with its milder cousin, anti-Freemason paranoia). Both are inclined to leader worship and to the exclusive stress on the power of one great book. Both have a strong commitment to sexual repression—especially to the repression of any sexual "deviance"—and to its counterparts the subordination of the female and contempt for the feminine. Both despise art and literature as symptoms of degeneracy and decadence; both burn books and destroy museums and treasures.[3]"

I believe that when most people read the Zahran article they have a pretty good (if general) idea of what he meant.

A friends company in Korea had a German Shepard dog named Himmler that they put in the grain bins they were guarding at night. Himmler had three kills of Koreans trying to steal grain by the time he left.

I believe that when most people read the Zahran article they have a pretty good (if general) idea of what he meant.

The commentary, which was well reasoned and well written, as I implied earlier, issued a serious challenge to USA regarding an historically difficult problem in modern foreign policy. It was a good read.

But the multiple use of "fascism" wiggled my BS meter. I've probably been around too many of the wrong kind of academics - the kind who get wrapped up in the words and forget the reality, which is messier. I have to say that I get a lot of that sense from ME intellectuals. Too wordy for me. Too pleased with the sound of their pretty words.

Reproduced in its entirety because all of the responses reflect a mature and more sophisticated understanding of mental illness and behavioral dysfunction among developing teenagers.

**************

(Newser) – Liza Long created quite a stir with her blog post comparing her troubled son to Connecticut shooter Adam Lanza and other notorious mass shooters. It quickly went viral, and Long has been praised for her honesty—but a number of critics are calling her out for baring her son's problems so publicly, and some are even questioning her own fitness as a mother:

On her own blog, Sarah Kendzior takes a look at Long's previous blog entries and finds some discrepancies: Long had previously described her purportedly Lanza-like son as a normal kid who nonetheless infuriated her with his Obama-loving views; she also accused her ex-husband of having the boy sent to a juvenile correction facility after he failed to do his chores. In one post, she describes wanting to "throttle" her kids or call her son's parole officer and "let the state take care of you." After taking heat herself, Kendzior insisted in a second blog post that the context is important—and that the bottom line is, "A child does not deserve to have his mother embark on a media tour promoting him as a future mass murderer."

"No, You Are Not Adam Lanza's Mother," reads the headline on a Disability and Representation blog by Rachel Cohen-Rottenberg, who is aghast at the idea that any mother would compare her own child "to mass murderers. In public. Under her own name. On the Internet. For the world to see." She's similarly appalled at those praising Long, wondering if they've forgotten about the effect this will have on her son. "It’s as though they’ve written him off. He’s just a talking point. A springboard for discussion. An avatar of people’s worst fears. But not a child struggling."

Another reaction posted by the blogger at thegirlwhowasthursday accuses Long of reinforcing mental illness stigma by tying such illnesses to mass murders. "By reducing 'mental illness' to 'outward behavior' the article dehumanizes the mentally ill and completely glosses over the inner mental life and experiences of those with mental illness."

Kendzior and Long today released a joint statement, saying they didn't anticipate their posts would go viral and calling for unity: “We are not interested in being part of a ‘mommy war’. We are interested in opening a serious conversation on what can be done for families in need."

Oh, mine as well. And yes, I think "Mom" is might get dragged through the mud, albeit quietly, as the shrinks try to piece together some psychological forensics for future reference (one female child was shot 11 times.)

The older I get, the more I think that genetics is the dominant driver - nature way over nurture. IQ is obviously important, in itself, but also as an influence on the individual's psychological and emotional profile. I have known so many people who worked themselves out of nothing but mud. And then, not to forget, the best and the brightest who went to Wall St and put 2008 into the history books. As Jenny wrote "we're all doomed."

Many are coming to believe that there might be a good bit of "self-selection" going on in the "higher IQ" dept.

Higher IQ kids are likely to have higher IQ (thus, on average, wealthier) parents which means they are more likely to end up going to the psychiatrist's office, while the lower IQ (thus, poorer parents) kid goes straight to jail.

December 17, 2012Congrats, Barry. US falls out of top 10 most prosperous nationsRick Moran

You know that period between sleep and wakefulness where you're not quite sure you're still dreaming? I read this blog item at Powerline and had the exact same reaction:

Via InstaPundit, we learn that for the first time, the United States does not rank as one of the world's ten most prosperous nations, as rated by London's Legatum Institute. The authors of the report found that the U.S.'s slippage is being driven by "a decline in the number of US citizens who believe that hard work will get them ahead." Well, they're right: in Barack Obama's America, hard work doesn't cause you to get ahead; being politically connected does. We are all paying the price for the corruption of the Age of Obama.

Consistent with this finding is the fact that for the first time in history, the average Canadian is wealthier than the average American. Canada has a conservative government, and they have passed us like we are standing still. Which we are, at best.

All of which raises the question: do Barack Obama and his minions want America to be one of the world's ten most prosperous countries? If you believe, as I do, that actions speak louder than words, the answer is No.

If this be a nightmare, someone please pinch me so I can wake up. This is incomprehensible to someone my age who grew up in a country that would always be free, prosperous, and strong.

Blackness Gestapo Attack on RGIII Typical Restore America 101 Consultants Advise: Bring Sporks to New Gunfight with the Left An Angry Black Man Black Man Yells: Wake Up, White Obama Sympathizers! Obama's Appeal: Clueless Entitlement Addicts and Racists We Have Not Lost a Generation to Liberalism Academic Expectations Lowered: Another Democrat Hit to Black Intellect The Great Loss of What It Means to Be an American Black Christians: Shame! Shame! Shame! Obama's Legacy on Black America Obama versus Jesus: Black Christians Must Decide MSM: Focusing on the Minor While Ignoring the Major to Help Obama Precious U.S. Citizenship: Diminished and Given Away by Obama Rooting for the Investor Next Door America and Divine Intervention My Black Dad and Chick-fil-A Cojones Required to Defeat Racist Democrats and Media Obama Keeps on Conning America NAACP Furthers Mission of KKK Reagan Is Gone - Is Sarah Palin America's Next 'Great Cheerleader'? The Dictator in the Black Iron Man Suit Obama: Going Rogue Can One Be Truly Black and Patriotic? Obama's Chicago Thug Way Invades Wisconsin Still Clueless: What Is the Tea Party? President Obama: Gay Marriage Is Not a Black Thing! Defeat Obama: The Power Of One Patriot! Obama Re-Election Team: Shock and Awe Attack on Tea Party The Ultimate Appeal to Persuade Fellow Blacks to Stop Voting Democrat But What about Justice for Zimmerman? Obama: The Lying King Calming the Storm of Martin/Zimmerman-Related Racial Violence Obama's Re-Election: A Stake in the Heart of the American Spirit Democrats Responsible for Black Culture of Anger Democrats Ignore Real Racism while Exploiting Trayvon for Obama 2012 No-Labels Movement: Another Liberal Trick Al Sharpton: Keeping Black Voters Angry Republicans: Black America's True Friend Obama 2012: All about Social Issues Sharon Jasper: Obama's Vision For America Why the Babies? Why? Fond Memories of Ronnie America Desperately Needs A Hero...but Who? Americans Are Better Than Who Obama Thinks We Are Another Black History Month: The Left's Favorite Time of the Year Heads Up, America: Time to Take Back Our Kids New Team Obama Re-Election Gimmick: Is America a Post-Racial Society?

Park Geun-hye is vying to become South Korea's first woman president. To do so, she is reaching out to some of the people who were arrested, jailed and even exiled when her father was president in the 1960s and 1970s.

The election comes at a pivotal time for both Asia and for South Korea, a key U.S. ally and a growing economic force in the world. Korean brands like Samsung, LG and Hyundai have become household names around the world.

Adam Winkler, a professor at the UCLA School of Law and author of the book, ‘Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America’, says the sheer horror of Friday “may well be a turning point for the gun debate in America”. He added: “To see 20 children mercilessly slaughtered in a schoolhouse is too much for people to bear.

I think the political environment is different today than it was even a few weeks ago.”

Repealing the Second Amendment would be more difficult than draining the Hudson River. But just as attitudes to gay marriage have changed at a pace no one could have predicted a decade ago, so passions on the right to own guns might one day also start to ebb.

NASA engineers rarely clap and cheer when their spacecraft crash. That wasn't the case today.

...

The impact marked an end to a NASA-driven mission to not only give scientists more information about how the moon was formed, but also to send back more than 100,000 images for U.S. middle school students to study in class.

Some employers say that they are doing their best, but that their customers frequently pay late, or not at all. Others say they have gone to great lengths to pay their employees.

One, who refused to be identified because he did not want to advertise his real estate company’s financial problems, said his family had sold a beach house and a space in a parking garage to pay employees their commissions earlier this year.

...

Some worker advocates worry that the backup in the courts is giving abusive employers extra leverage. Workers hang on longer because they know that giving up and going to the courts will not get them any cash soon.

Magnificent Ronald and the Founding Fathers of al Qaeda

“These gentlemen are the moral equivalents of America’s founding fathers.” — Ronald Reagan while introducing the Mujahideen leaders to media on the White house lawns (1985). During Reagan’s 8 years in power, the CIA secretly sent billions of dollars of military aid to the mujahedeen in Afghanistan in a US-supported jihad against the Soviet Union. We repeated the insanity with ISIS against Syria.